Judges 16:13-30

English Standard Version

¹³ Then Delilah said to Samson, “Until now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me how you might be bound.” And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web and fasten it tight with the pin, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.” ¹⁴ So while he slept, Delilah took the seven locks of his head and wove them into the web.^[a] And she made them tight with the pin and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he awoke from his sleep and pulled away the pin, the loom, and the web.

¹⁵ And she said to him, ^(A)“How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and you have not told me where your great strength lies.” ¹⁶ And ^(B)when she pressed him hard with her words day after day, and urged him, his soul was vexed to death. ¹⁷ And he told her all his heart, and said to her, ^(C)“A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man.”

¹⁸ When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up again, for he has told me all his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought ^(D)the money in their hands. ¹⁹ She made him sleep on her knees. And she called a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began ^(E)to torment him, and his strength left him. ²⁰ And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that ^(F)the Lord had left him. ²¹ And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles. ^(G)And he ground at the mill in the prison. ²² But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

The Death of Samson

²³ Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to ^(H)Dagon their god and to rejoice, and they said, “Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand.” ²⁴ And when the people saw him, ^(I)they praised their god. For they said, “Our god has given our enemy into our hand, the ravager of our country, who has killed many of us.”^{[b] 25} And ^(J)when their hearts were merry, they said, “Call Samson, that he may entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he entertained them. They made him stand between the pillars. ²⁶ And Samson said to the young man who held him by the hand, “Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean against them.” ²⁷ Now the house was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines were there, and ^(K)on the roof there were about 3,000 men and women, who looked on while Samson entertained.

²⁸ Then Samson called to the Lord and said, “O Lord God, ^(L)please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes.” ²⁹ And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other. ³⁰ And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life.